City Council votes to allow alcohol sales on New Year’s Eve, a Sunday, Mary Ruth Cook sworn in, 2018 budget approved

BLAIRSVILLE, Ga. – The Blairsville City Council convened on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017, for their December meeting at City Hall. Mayor Jim Conley, City Attorney David Barrett, City Clerk Kaye McCann and Council Members Rhonda Mahan, Betty Easter, Tony Dyer and Mary Ruth Cook were present. Buddy Moore was absent due to illness.

The Council voted unanimously to allow Blairsville restaurant establishments that hold alcohol licenses to sell alcohol on Sunday, Dec. 31, 2017, New Year’s Eve. The one-time relaxation of the Sunday restriction on alcohol sales at restaurants in the city of Blairsville will run from 11 a.m. Sunday until 2 a.m. Monday. This only applies to licensees who sell alcoholic beverages to be consumed on their premises. It does not apply to grocery stores, convenience stores and the like.

Barrett presided as Cook was sworn into office beginning her first term as a Blairsville City Council member. Cook is the sister of Martha Cone, who passed away last April, leaving the vacant seat that Cook won in November.

The Council unanimously approved the 2018 Blairsville city budget (Budget Summary). Dyer questioned whether the three percent cost-of-living salary increase was in the budget, to which he was answered in the positive. Comment was made by Dyer that the blossoming of the budget during his time in office is due to progress in Blairsville. Conley added that growth was a big factor as well.

The Council voted unanimously to grant all full-time employees a three percent pay increase based on current employee evaluations, as designated by the Mayor, to be effective as of Dec. 15, 2017.

Council members unanimously approved the annexation of 83 Conley Road, Blairsville, Georgia, Tract 070 028 Union County Records (13.15 acres). Approximately five acres of that tract will be purchased by Fellowship of the Hills Church for their new facility. The remaining acreage will accommodate an apartment project similar to the new Overlook Apartments completed this year behind the Butternut Creek Shopping Center.

Conley convened a public hearing and second reading of Alcohol Ordinance #2017-04. There were no public comments and no questions or comments from the Council. The new ordinance was unanimously approved by the Council.

Department head reports were as follows:

• Larry Stephens, superintendent of the water treatment plant, reported: the actuators are in place and working properly; meters are calibrated for this year; air compressor is fixed; the water storage tanks have been cleaned and inspected; and William Young, an employee, passed his Class II licensing exam. The Council unanimously approved a $1/hour increase in pay for Young.

• John Hamler, Blairsville Airport manager, reported: a new 32-inch flat screen had been installed at the new airport building, which now displays aviation fuel and oil prices and loops an informational video of the airport; the fire marshall will be on site on Dec. 21 to mark out the location of the new Jet-A fuel tank; the security cameras have been installed and will be operational in a day or two; the grounding crew for the Automated Weather Observation System (AWOS) completed their work; the Blairsville Civil Air Patrol (CAP) held the swearing-in ceremony for their new commandant in the conference room of the new terminal building; the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) will have their Christmas Party at the new terminal building; and last, but not least, The Beach Boys flew into Blairsville Airport on Friday, Dec. 1, in a chartered jet for their performance at the Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds in Hiawassee, Georgia. Hamler said the airport is staying busy (65 landings and takeoffs in one day about two weeks prior), and that he is now keeping a record of all air traffic, which will be turned into McCann monthly.

• Jody Cook, superintendent of the wastewater treatment plant, said, since his last report, everything was going well.

• Darren Harper, program manager for the Downtown Development Authority (DDA), reported that the next DDA meeting would be Tuesday, Dec. 12, from noon to 1 p.m. at City Hall. He said the Light Up the Square event, which included the Tree Lighting and Christmas Parade on Saturday, Dec. 2, was a great success. He said the after-dark venue seemed to be a winner. He said the Light up the Square decorating contest is ongoing between eight merchants in the immediate vicinity of the Square. Harper said this is bringing people into the downtown area which, ultimately, brings in revenue for the merchants and the city alike. He named off the upcoming events planned for 2018: the Spring Arts & Crafts Music Festival on Memorial Day Weekend; Corner Concerts on the Square running from May through October; downtown Blairsville Outdoor Movie Nights, also May through October; Heritage Festival on Labor Day weekend; Hometown Halloween on the Square in October; and Light Up the Square in December. Harper asked the Mayor and Council if they might have some interest in hosting a Taste of Blairsville event in mid to late August in which all the restaurants would participate plus some from our region. Conley and the Council agreed that they would take it under consideration.

Tobie Chandler, of the Blairsville/Union County Chamber of Commerce, addressed the Council regarding the instillation of a 12-by-25 digital billboard on the north side of Hwy. 515 between the Pat Haralson Drive overpass and United Community Bank. She said the sign could be used for a variety of things besides advertising, like time and temperature, driver alerts, weather alerts and such. She said that the Chamber would allow the city of Blairsville permanent space for the life of the billboard. The Council voted unanimously to allow the signage contingent upon approval by Barrett of the license or contract with Allison Outdoors.

Daniel Liberatore, owner/operator of the Blairsville Chick-fil-A, addressed the Council regarding the recent city-wide boil-water alert that lasted several days and caused his restaurant to be shut down from Monday until Thursday of the previous week. Liberatore urged the Council to institute a more timely system of notification of such alerts. Dyer said that the city did “drop the ball” by not following protocol and apologized to Liberatore, but, he said, there is a protocol in place. Conley said there will be some changes to streamline the protocol. He also said that the city of Blairsville has offered to reimburse Blairsville businesses for the cost of water, ice and sodas that were purchased for their continuity of operations during the alert.

There was lengthly discussion concerning various ways of alerting Blairsville and Union County citizens of emergencies like the recent boil-water alert. Barrett suggested that Notla Water send out a request in billing statements that customers provide their phone numbers for emergency notification purposes. It was agreed that the City would announce via newspaper, radio and Internet that citizens can sign up for alerts from Blairsville by providing their phone numbers. This would be voluntary and not infringe on anyone’s privacy.

Blairsville Alcohol License renewals for 2018 were unanimously approved by the Council contingent upon their state of Georgia license renewals being issued.

Conley recited a resolution for the award of a contract to the low bidder, Townley Construction Co. Inc., 24 Laina Bennett Road, Dawsonville, GA 30534, for the Cook Street Water Project for the base amount of $142,660.25. The Council unanimously approved.

The mayor reviewed a letter from Union County Fire Chief and EMA Director David Dyer to the city of Blairsville inviting the city to participate in updating the multi-jurisdictional mitigation plan by providing available staff to assist with local fund requirements. Conley summed up the letter by saying that Dyer is requesting the city provide personnel to attend their planning meetings. The Council voted unanimously to approve city participation.

The Truck Ordinance was mentioned but is still a work in progress.

An Occupational Tax Certificate Application was approved for KTP Insurance, dba Bill Potts Insurance, 281 E. Young Harris St., Cheli Collins, owner.

A sign permit application was approved for Rustic Mountain Décor, 38 Merchants Walk, Suite D, James C. McEldowney, owner.

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